BOSTON (AP) — One by one, the Boston Celtics lined up to embrace Isaiah Thomas.

The next time they see their former teammate, he probably won’t be in a hoodie after watching the game from the bench.

And it won’t be so easy.

Terry Rozier scored 20 points in 20 minutes, stealing the spotlight from Thomas, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals and leading the Celtics to a 102-88 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Thomas received a standing ovation from the Boston fans but did not play one night after making his season debut in a return from a hip injury. Rozier made sure to pay his respects, and Thomas told the third-year Celtics guard he was proud of him.

“When I first came in the league, that’s a guy that I watched a lot. The little things he did on and off the court. Like a big brother to me,” Rozier said. “Just to hear those words from him, I’m happy that he’s on his way back — so I can guard him in February.”

Rozier scored the last eight Boston points of the first quarter to give the Celtics an 11-point lead, and had another eight in a row midway through the fourth when they expanded the lead to 21. Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum had 15 points apiece, and Irving and Al Horford each had 11 points and nine rebounds to help Boston to its fourth straight win.

James had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists on 8-for-15 shooting — the only starter to make more than half of his shots on a team that scored a season-low 88 points.

“Against LeBron, there’s nobody that can guard him the whole game. So you have to throw as many bodies at him as you can,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “And then pray.”

Tristan Thompson had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland, which lost for the fourth time in five games. Playing on back-to-back nights — the Celtics had been preparing for them since New Year’s Eve — Cleveland shot 34.8 percent.

It was the first time the teams had played since the season opener, when top Boston free-agent Gordon Hayward broke his leg in a gruesome injury that reshuffled the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Celtics finished with the top seed last year, but lost in the conference finals to Cleveland.

Irving, Redick and Brown agree one rim was crooked during Celtics-76ers London game

The Boston Celtics' 114-103 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in London on Thursday was a wild affair. A part of the NBA Global Games series, the game swung wildly back and forth, with the Sixers jumping out to a 22-point lead in the first half only for the Celtics to come storming back and win by double digits.

One potential reason for the big swings from half to half is that a number of players say the rims was crooked.

During his latest podcast, J.J. Redick had Kyrie Irving on as a guest. We've already covered their extremely interesting discussion about conspiracy theories, but in addition to that segment, Redick also briefly brought up the game. When he did, he said he thought that one of the rims was crooked. Irving concurred, saying it was a "little bit" crooked. As transcribed by NewJersey.com: